Is the three-term contingency trial a predictor of effective instruction?

Two experiments are reported which test the effect of increased three-term contingency trials on students' correct and incorrect math responses. Experiment 1 included two junior high school students in need of special instruction in mathematics while in Experiment 2 two other students with similar instructional needs from the same classroom were studied. In the first experiment the increased rate of presentation (3 times the baseline rate) was done without regard to whether the antecedent teacher presentations to the student were presented vocally or in written form; in the second experiment, the rates of presentation were systematically rotated across written and vocal presentations. The dependent variables were rate per minute of correct and incorrect responses of students (vocal or written). The experiments used designs incorporating features of the multiple baseline (Students A and B) and reversal (Students B, C, and D). The data showed that increasing the number of three-term trials increased correct rates while incorrect rates remained relatively low. The second experiment replicated these findings with two other students and found that the treatment effect occurred independently with vocal and written antecedents when each was isolated. The results warrant further research to test whether or not rates of presentation of three-term contingency trials are predictors of effective instruction.     

The behavior analyst consulting model: Identifying and validating naturally effective instructional models

Increasingly, behavior analysts are attempting to develop interventions based on precision assessments of the situational factors surrounding a behavior of interest, those requiring reduction (as in functional analysis) or those requiring acceleration (as in ecobehavioral analysis). Using ecobehavioral assessments of naturalistic classroom instruction, we sought to identify a set of potentially effective procedures and to test their function. Using as selection criteria students' gains in academic achievement, and their observed academic behavior, we identified potentially effective versus ineffective instructional procedures used to teach language arts skills to students with learning disabilities (Study I). Subsequently, we sought to test and replicate the functionality of the identified procedures within a series of single-subject experiments. Results from a resource room application (Study II) indicated that the targeted effective procedure surpassed the targeted ineffective procedure in terms of both content mastery and the quality of students' written language samples. Results from a regular classroom application (Study III) indicated that the targeted effective procedure was also more effective than the conventional instructional procedure employed naturally by the regular education teacher. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Relationship between COVID-19-related stress and social inhibition among university students in China: The mediating role of psychological richness

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health issues of university students received increasing attention. However, little is known about the effect of COVID-19-related stress on social inhibition among Chinese university students and its psychological mechanism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to explore the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and social inhibition as well as the mediating role of psychological richness. In late 2022, 1250 Chinese university students were recruited for participation in an online survey. Modified SARS-Stress Scale, Social Inhibition Questionnaire, and Psychologically Rich Life Questionnaire were used to assess participants' COVID-19-related stress, social inhibition, and psychological richness. The Results indicate that COVID-19-related stress positively predicts social inhibition and negatively predicts psychological richness. Meanwhile, Psychological richness negatively predicts social inhibition. Mediation analysis shows that the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and social inhibition was partially mediated by psychological richness. The results indicate the significant predictive value of psychological richness when studying mental health issues.     

An evaluation of Headsprout early reading as an online parent-mediated intervention for primary school children

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and lengthy absences from the classroom, there is a need for large-scale remedial programs to support young children to “catch-up” on literacy and numeracy skills. A stratified randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the Headsprout Early Reading (HER) program as a parent-mediated digital literacy intervention. A between-groups design compared differences in reading-dependent outcome measures for 36 children assigned to one of three intervention groups: with support, without support, and waitlist-control. Children completed significantly more episodes when parents received implementation support from the researcher compared to the without support group. Children receiving Headsprout instructions demonstrated marginally greater gains than the waitlist-control group in posttest outcome measures; however, differences in reading outcomes were not significant between groups at posttesting. The current research provides tentative support for HER and importantly, highlights the importance of providing support for parents implementing interventions at home.     

对情感教学心理研究的思考与探索

本文梳理了作者及其团队近30年来在情感教学心理学领域的开拓和发展中的一些思考和探索概况,主要涉及四方面的内容:一是结合研究者自己的教学经历和教学领域中对情感的忽视以及心理领域中对情感研究的薄弱之现状,谈对情感教学心理学研究的起因;二是探索情感的分类、功能和发生机制,为情感教学心理研究打下必要的基础;三是从基础性和应用性两个方面,推进情感教学心理的一系列研究;四是从社会-心理的宏观层面和生理-心理的微观层面,拓展情感教学心理研究。     

大学生心理行为问题的识别:基于潜在剖面分析

为探索潜在剖面分析(latent profile analysis, LPA)在心理行为问题识别上的应用, 对12718名大学生进行心理普查, 并对644名学生由心理咨询师、辅导员和兼职班主任对其心理状况进行评定, 采用评定结果和阳性症状检出率作为"黄金标准"分析了诊断的敏感度与特异度。结果发现:(1)潜在剖面分析发现本研究大学生样本的心理行为问题可划分为三个亚群体:风险组、困扰组和健康组, 分别占比9.86%、19.15%和70.99%;(2)风险组表现为突出的精神症状(Z≥2.6SD), 有61.21%的被试出现阳性症状, 远高于困扰组的38.28%和健康组的8.36%;此外, 困扰组以认知与情绪症状为主;(3)潜在剖面分析方法比传统划界分数方法在敏感度上能提高8.93%~35.26%, 更为科学有效。     

Universities and the Promotion of Corporate Responsibility: Reinterpreting the Liberal Arts Tradition

The issue of corporate responsibility has long been discussed in relationship to universities, but generally only in an ad hoc fashion. While the role of universities in teaching business ethics is one theme that has received significant and rather constant attention, other issues tend to be raised only sporadically. Moreover, when issues of corporate responsibility are raised, it is often done on the presumption of some understanding of a liberal arts mandate of the university, a position that has come under much attack in recent years. The purpose of this article is to investigate more systematically the nature of the obligations that the university has to promote more responsible corporate behaviour. It does so on the basis of a reinterpretation of the liberal arts tradition from a critical theory perspective. This entails: (1) an initial conceptualization of the roles and functions of the university; (2) an examination of these functions at two formative periods of the liberal arts tradition, the medieval university and the rise of the modern university in Germany in the early 19th century; (3) an investigation of ruptures in the understanding and practices of the liberal arts tradition, resulting in large part from the rise of the bureaucratic state and the industrial capitalist economy; (4) a reinterpretation of the liberal arts tradition from a critical theory perspective; and (5) a systematic elaboration of the obligations of the university vis-à-vis corporations based upon the university's key functions of teaching, research, formation and professional development.     

Peirce on Education: Nurturing the First Rule of Reason

Through an exegetic reading of Peirce’s minor texts on higher education, I find that Peirce’s conception of a “Liberal Education” is close to the Herbartian conception of Bildung. Peirce calls for a general education with the ambition of qualifying critical thinkers with the capacity to go beyond the strict rules and narrow borders of the artes liberales, – the different subject matters or sciences taught at a university. Thus, Peirce’s conception of a liberal education is closely linked to his interpretation of common sense – or sensis communis – as a critical commonsensism. To him, it is urgent to educate and nurture “the first rule of reason,” described as a will to learn, a curiosity, a dissatisfaction of what you already incline to think, and an intense desire to find things out. The nurturing of this “first rule of reason” is thus about educating an intellectual community of critical thinkers who are able to question authoritative beliefs, knowing how to debunk them, and how to turn away from obiter dictum.     

Pre-entry Characteristics,Perceived Social Support,Adjustment and Academic Achievement in First-Year Spanish University Students: A Path Model

Transition to university is a multifactorial process to which scarce consideration has been given in Spain, despite this being one of the countries with the highest rates of academic failure and attrition within the European Union. The present study proposes an empirical model for predicting Spanish students' academic achievement at university by considering pre-entry characteristics, perceived social support and adaptation to university, in a sample of 300 traditional first-year university students. The findings of the path analysis showed that pre-university achievement and academic and personal–emotional adjustment were direct predictors of academic achievement. Furthermore, gender, parents' education and family support were indirect predictors of academic achievement, mediated by pre-university grades and adjustment to university. The current findings supporting evidence that academic achievement in first-year Spanish students is the cumulative effect of pre-entry characteristics and process variables, key factors that should be taken into account in designing intervention strategies involving families and that establish stronger links between research findings and university policies.     

L’expérience étudiante de la transition : adultes en reprise d’études versus jeunes bacheliers

In a context of development of the learning society, characterized by increasing and diversifying public received to university, this research aims to understand the student's experience of adults undertaking a university program and young graduates. Three transitional processes (Masdonati & Zittoun, 2012) were studied: identity adjustment, development of skills, and meaning making. The analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted at the University Paris Ouest at the end of the first semester with twenty students shows that young graduates evoke a quest for adult identity, and gradual empowerment, and adults who undertaking a university program evokes identity et behavioral changes.